I will put my cards on the table. Mortlach is in my top 5 whiskies (perhaps not this bottling though).
Ok lets start...On the nose. Fruity, dark chocolate (Belguim type not the cheap stuff), very slight hint of heather smoke. When I worked abroad two things stopped me from being overly home sick. The first was seeing a bottle of Glenfiddich and secondly was smelling a good dram of Mortlach. The first was easy to come by but the second was a lot harder to find.
The pallette on this dram was harsh, almost medical and a little oily.
The finish was long, like sandpaper on the back of the throat and alas like gargling with napam.
Now then I'm not a scientist and cannot explain the reason for this but I dropped a little water into this glass (about 10% of the volume) then some sort of magic occured....
The nose freshened up..Lovely.
The pallette came alive. Your mouth is coated with sublime chocolate covered raisons, honey dribbled over christmas cake, vanilla icecream on the side (writing this is making me feel hungry).
The finish is long lasting, lip smacking, moreish. Napalm and sandpaper is replaced by Warm, smooth, sherried and have I mentioned smooth.
This bottling is not chill filtered or coloured so do not be alarmed when you put the water in, it will turn very cloudy. This could put some people off but on the up side of that is all the more for us real whisky lovers.
This whisky has an amazing split personality. From a good dram to heaven in a glass. Very reasonable price. Check out their website www.whiskyshopdufftown.co.uk
Captain Tom. Mortlach 16yo to my taste is very slightly better. It has more depth but only because I'm lazy and dont usually add water. I would hate to add too much in case I spoiled it. Saying that it is a great addition to any cupboard. No matter which you choose I'm sure you'll love it.
Very interesting review.
The 16 year old is very high on my wish list and I’ll probably pick up a bottle next time I venture into town. However, I was leafing through a 1997 edition Jim Murray’s complete book of whisky and he says of the 16 year old.. “I’d prefer to see them drop about four years off it and serve it when the malt has a bigger say, is sweeter and the complexity is busier and more intense”.
Assuming that would be what you’ve just reviewed, and, having noticed that you have a bottle of the 16 in your cabinet, I was wondering how you rated the two against each other..?